Conservative To The Bone

This was written by a Patriotic Tweeter friend. She asked me to post on my blog, and I am honored to do so. Great read. Patriot1249.

First thing I need to say is I am not a blogger or a writer, but about 10 days ago I attended the NASCAR race at Bristol Motor Speedway-in Tn. What I observed there & to be honest didn’t observe I had an urge to write about. This is not meant to be a slam or brag on NASCAR, BMS or the RNC-although in parts will be all 3, it is mainly about the folks & what I saw happening. I was lucky enough to meet several people there that I tweet with & I was thrilled to have this opportunity. If you have never been to BMS I strongly recommend that you go, not because the racing is awesome-which it did used to be but since they repaved BMS the racing sucks to be blunt about it. But BMS is still awesome-there is a magic & a special “NASCAR” feel that you won’t get at most of the other tracks on the circuit today-they are too dog & pony show. At BMS you feel like your transported back in time to the “real” days before NASCAR got stupid with their phony politically correct crap. Being raised in Texas & living in AL I have spent a lot of time at both TMS & Dega-both have their charms (TMS is the best being run today IMO) but BMS is a different world-it’s like a time machine. The entire city of Bristol-which is really cool because half is TN & half is VA is wonderful, the residents, the businesses, even the police officers are great. Now being used to Talladega I am used to rude, hateful police officers (granted at Dega they put up with a lot) that I was shocked by the friendly, laughing, welcoming attitude in Bristol-this was city (both sides), state, county-all great. I know most of you aren’t interested in this but I am trying to set a mood-have patience told you not a writer.

On Thursday the city of Bristol had all sorts of things via Food City going on. At about 9 PM that night they shut down one of the entire main roads (Veterans) & here came the haulers-one by one. People lined the streets & when I say line the streets I mean in the middle of the road in the median-on foot of course. The haulers drive from mall to track, there was fireworks going off all over, there was fun, laughing, no one had an attitude, people were making sure that smaller kids could see. It was like a great big family get together only one that everyone liked each other at.

Friday & Saturday was practice, qualifying & all sorts of other stuff going on at track. I wandered around all day exploring the booths, talking to everyone-if you have never been to a NASCAR race or aren’t a fan you probably won’t get this-but imagine 100000 that come together to basically live together for 3 days (if you camp or hang out at track), there is no such thing as a stranger. Everyone talks to everyone-there is like a brotherhood, we understand each other, no matter which driver you support is there is a unity. As I roamed through the booths being a political person I was thinking there is something wrong here seriously. Being a nosy redhead I decided to sort of do an unofficial little poll. I was able to find out that 43 states were represented-now that is not saying that there was no one from other states, these are states that I directly talked to someone from, from CA to New Hampshire. Hmm, that was interesting. I bet I talked to 4000 people over the 3 days I was at the track & hanging around BMS. I’d say 65% of these told me that they were Independents (I heard a lot of well I am registered so & so because state makes me but I vote for the candidate). Heard a lot of negatives even from people who did identify self as Democrats about Obama & wait for it…not healthcare but his bowing to other leaders, terrorists, gun rights & lack of support for our military-this easily ranked number 1 with NASCAR fans….this is NASCAR guys not a prissy sport. But I digress back to what was missing. I do not know who does the marketing for RNC but they suck at it. If I was any candidate I would FIRE immediately my staff. Not one single booth, period, no RNC, no local candidates, no state, no federal. I am thinking are these people morons? Here is a few facts for you non-NASCAR people (& obviously whoever is running marketing for RNC & a lot of other campaigns over the country have no clue). Why do you people believe that sponsors spend millions & yes I said millions to sponsor a car? Do you really think it is ego to watch their name go around & around track. Wrong. NASCAR fans are the most brand loyal fans in the world-& smart marketers know this. Example I know a kid that has not eaten at McDonalds since they fired Bill Elliot, she not only quit eating there, she arranged for the entire Franklin County, AL school district to boycott the McDonalds in Russellville. Think it didn’t have an impact? Wrong, McDonalds sent someone to negotiate with a 2nd grader. I know another fan who when Tony Stewart drove for Home Depot lived 2 miles from a Lowes but drove 60 miles to buy at Home Depot. I myself have never bought any gas but Shell since they started sponsoring Kevin Harvick. It is an unwritten law-if a race fan is faced with choice-2 companies-1 support NASCAR & 1 doesn’t guess which one gets business. And companies know this. There were residents of almost every state present at this race & it isn’t even one of the larger tracks…..but no RNC. And yes, BMS would have sold them a spot. So to me this was a BIG FAIL on part of RNC & another reason Michael Steele needs to go-not only does he have no clue but I guess his PR department is too busy fixing his gaffes than recognizing where 60000+ voters are that are perfect for conservatives (oh yeah that is assuming we are talking conservative rather than RINO RNC).

Now, to the part that actually moved me to try & write this. I have been to a lot of races & have never seen a track do a more patriotic display (& remember this was not for the “big” race). BMS was about 80% full (which I am sure track won’t like me reporting), but there was everyone standing. I was sitting on the front row in Allison (the best section on start/finish) surrounded by a group of kids that I can only describe as your typical hard-partying, fun-loving 24-25 yr olds-3 couples, they were really awesome too. The cool thing about BMS is you can see clear across track it is so small. (By the way I am combing what I witnessed over Fri & Sat night) They did a “tribute” (I don’t know what else to call it) before the Anthem a mother/wife-I missed a few seconds getting to my seat-talked about military. By the time she was done, I was wiping tears from my eyes-I quietly looked around (now please remember this is at a race track with probably 80000 people), there was dead silence & saw people all around me wiping their eyes. They introduced some wounded warriors-you could have heard a pin drop. Then the cheers started as 4 sky divers carrying the American flag came onto the track I saw people set down their beers, snacks, scanners, etc & to cheer that flag (all were already standing). And we are not talking a quiet little rah, I am talking about a cheers-it was deafening, it echoed. When they sang the National Anthem & reached land of the free-the world moved, I would have given anything for Obama, Pelosi, Reid, & Holder to have been there-it might have been eye opening for them. I watched older men & women & was able to see in their faces their fear for this country & where we are headed, I looked in the eyes of the kids (& yes 25 yr olds are kids to me) next to me & saw a pride in being an American. I glanced over to the pits & saw drivers, crew members, wives all cheering & wiping their eyes. I heard the roar of jet engines above my head as our military provided a fly over (think F-14s-they were cool looking but I don’t know planes) & I thought cheering was loud before, the crowd went nuts. I looked down by the fence, there stood 3 bikers (& I am not talking the nice older gentlemen biker, I am talking badass bikers) & every one of them was saluting that flag & cheering our military. In all my years of racing I have never seen anything like the display of patriotism put on at BMS & the people present at that race.

I learned something that weekend, for the last 2 years we have been fighting against the destruction of our country & it at times has seemed an unwinnable battle, not to be surrendered but just seems to wear you out because every day it is some new attack. You get discouraged; you sometimes feel that we can’t ever win. Yes, Obama, Holder & his Muslim friends believe they have us on the ropes, but they are wrong. I saw an American spirit come to life, in all the years (& I refuse to tell you how many but trust me over 20) of going to races, I have always known that NASCAR fans rank as the most patriotic, independent block of Americans there is but this was different. There was a special energy, a special challenge in the air; it was almost as if there was a gauntlet thrown out. Usually at races you will see people that don’t stand, some that don’t salute, that talk through the prayer, that basically ignore the opening ceremonies-that didn’t happen this week-end at BMS. I saw a bunch of people that didn’t give a damn if it was politically correct to cheer that flag or not. I didn’t see one damn “other” country flag waving. America may have stumbled but she will not fall, not while she has Americans like the patriots that were present at BMS & there are millions of us around the country. NASCAR fans may not be the tea party people (in fact I don’t know but maybe 1 or 2 NASCAR fans that attend them & I mean true fans not take or leave) but I don’t believe you can make one run or bully them too far, I had forgotten this. Someone recently (it was a RINO TROLL) made fun of me for being a NASCAR fan-insinuating this made me stupid, a redneck, illiterate, hick. While all that might be true I’ll take my stand with other NASCAR fans-because my guess is we’ll be standing when others aren’t, that type of love for country can’t be killed that easily. On Saturday when I was talking to people, a tweet friend I was lucky enough to meet said to me, “I hope when push comes to shove I am at a NASCAR race.” You know he was right, if God forbid push ever does come to shove for my country I hope I am at a NASCAR race too, I’d be proud to stand with my fellow race fans for my country-at least I know they have my back.